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About The skanner. (Portland, Or.) 1975-2014 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 23, 2011)
church By lisa loving of The Skanner News H alf a dozen local congregations will join together in recreating an his- toric march celebrating the Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church 60th anniversary. The Palm Sunday Procession, Sunday, April 17, marks the 1951 community event in which the church congregation paraded down Vancouver Avenue to officially open their new church. “It’s huge,” said event coordinator and church historian Raymond Burrell. “And it’s an event that’s etched in a lot of peoples’ minds.” “This year marks the 60th anniversary of that historic march, and so we’re going to be celebrating it in the same fashion that they did back in 1951,” he said. The Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church congregation was able to purchase their historic building at Vancouver Avenue and North Fargo in 1950. “It was of huge significance because at the time the African American community resided in the lower south end of North Portland, which is now known as Jump Town, and they were in a makeshift con- demned rooming house,” Burrell said. The congregation’s membership had grown extensively following the Vanport Flood in 1948. “And this was an area that was redlined, so they were very limited in what they could actually acquire and so when they were able to purchase the building it was huge — number one, because of the cost of the structure, and two, the size of the structure,” he says. So the congregation rallied together, found the funds to buy the church, and chose Palm Sunday as the day to commem- orate this milestone in the community. “And they marched up Vancouver Avenue by the hundreds and people from every- where joined in,” Burrell says. The Oregonian article from that day includes pictures showing Vancouver Avenue filled with two straight lines of con- gregants in choir robes and Sunday clothes. Beloved Rev. O.B. Williams – looking youthful at the beginning of his many years of service there – is pictured at the pulpit. Ten years later Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., spoke at that same pulpit, in his only visit to Oregon. The April commemoration starts with breakfast at Albina Park on North Flint Street from 9 - 10 a.m. The procession will depart from the park at approximately 10:15 a.m. Shuttle buses are being provided at the church to bring people to the march loca- tion. “So people can park at the church and ride the bus down to the starting point, have breakfast, catch up with old friends and have a great time in terms of fellowship- ping, and then join the procession,” Burrell said. Wheelchairs are available for seniors and the disabled, which can be reserved by call- ing 503-320-4592. Also participating are: Woodlawn United Methodist Church, New Covenant Baptist Page 6 The Portland Skanner February 23, 2011 PHoto By Jerry FoSter Vancouver Ave. Church Re-Enacts Palm Sunday Procession thelma m. Sylvester, Ora l. Brown-Nunley, marge white (Cannon), margaret J. Payne- saacs, and Olharyn E. Rand, all participated in the original march. Church, Calvary Christian Center, Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church, and the Greater Mount Gilead Missionary Baptist Church. The breakfast is being hosted by the Links women’s association. Also participating are the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge is involved in the celebration, as is the St. Joseph’s Grand Lodge. “So there’s a host of religious and civic organizations that are joining forces to real- ly celebrate this,” Burrell says. Clarence Borden Passed Away C larence Leon Borden was born on Oct. 4, 1937, to Julius Borden and Susan Wyatt (Borden) in Victoria, Texas. He passed on Feb. 11, 2011. Clarence completed grade school and high school at F.W. Gross in 1955. Clarence attended Prairie View A & M University for one year prior to join- ing the United States Air Force in 1956. He remained in the Air Force until he retired with over 20 years of service in May of 1976. Clarence met and married Dahlia Maggetti in 1968, while stationed at Great Falls, Montana. They were married for over 39 years and had a daughter Monica Borden. Services were held Feb. 17, by Terry Family Funeral Home.
